I find it interesting that this post is still the most viewed post of all time. In the two months my site has been active, my post about Guy Birenbaum's video has been viewed and linked to, more than any other post. Thanks for sharing!

Sailors Speak During Deployment

The U.S. Naval Institute has a great article about Operational Security and social media. Many fingers have pointed at me, casting blame and others have shamed me for writing about the flawed Vacuum Holding and Transfer System on the USS George HW Bush. Others praise me and laud my courage.

Despite opinion in some camps, my son and I discussed OPSEC and morale at great length before I initiated my blog. Thinking I was clever, I created a blog separate from my personal website, but the moment the Navy glommed onto my site, or perhaps the moment the Navy Times broke the story, someone searched my name and thus the anonymity was breached. I know the sources of visits on this and my other site. I tend to be just clever enough to get into mischief, it seems. He did not know about the blog until his commander showed him the printed page of the first few posts.

Still, he desired effect has been achieved. Cipher locks have been changed to a common unlock code so all hands can access working heads after pressing just three buttons. I feel, however that my main point has been overlooked by many who have picked up on this. Taxpayers, whether or not they have family on board the USS George HW Bush or any ship, deserve to know that our tax dollars are providing what we expect and what we have been told.

If you have followed this story, you may have read Capt. Luther's "recommendation for upgrades" to the "perfect system" on his ship.

I did not undertake this lightly. With a World War II father, brothers who served in Vietnam and Dessert Storm, nephews currently serving or recently returned from Afghanistan and Iraq and with my own son deployed, I take a strong, protective viewpoint toward all active-duty military and I want to know - as a taxpayer - that our fighting men and women have access to working heads at sea or some sort of back up system in place for potential failure of what was known prior to deployment, as a flawed, yet "perfect," system .

By now, it’s widely known what my son’s rank is and how long he has proudly served. I have never claimed to be, as one commenter on another site stated, the “ultimate Navy mom,” nor is my son, as others have posted, “a whiny little brat.” We take his service career very seriously. Since asking me to sign permission for his Delayed Enlistment Program, he has not asked for a single thing. However, when his men asked him to do something, he reached out and asked me to find a way to let them know someone cares more than they felt at that time.

It’s easy for folks at home to send shoe boxes to deployed personnel and then close their eyes at night, knowing they have "made a difference." Sending letters and cards to “any soldier” or “any sailor” is almost effortless, but actually listening when those deployed men and women have voiced concerns – with cause – about their basic human need to find a working head, and then doing something about it was not an easy choice for me.

Here is U.S. Naval Institute article in a nutshell, but I recommend you read the entire article and check if you feel inclined, leave a comment there:

The ability for service members while deployed to keep in contact with their family is exponentially greater than it ever has been in the annals of history.

The conversation turns to what life is REALLY like while deployed. It’s not fun–I mean it can be, it is an adventure and most of the people you’re deployed with are good people.

But, there is a reason why less than 1% of the United States has served in uniform–It’s hard and you have to put up with a lot. In describing such a life, I think I have had to be the most careful with my Mom. There’s nothing wrong with this, nor am I saying that my Mom is one to over react, or over-worry about things. Rather, from my point of view, I don’t want to say anything to her that would make her worry more for her son.

Now, I think that yeoman is at least as savvy as my own son, who refused to tell me how bad the head situation was until after more than 5 months at sea - only after his men asked for some sort of sign that someone cared about them. Sometimes, it truly is best for families, especially mothers, not to know what goes on.

What makes it so difficult to describe the life we live is that outside of the context defined by the skin of a ship, it is hard to have the right perspective on what is actually going on. Regardless of how well I articulate that context, it tends to be something that one HAS to experience.

There has been no need for what can loosely be termed as ‘communications training’ for service members beyond OPSEC and INFOSEC, because the amount of time service members could possibly spend communicating with their families was very brief, and the odds of getting into things that could cause tumult ashore was small.

He believes my site may have changed things.

It’s a helluva situation, and I have to stop short of saying that a Sailor’s Mom was wrong for what she did.

Things like this with Sailor’s families is not altogether rare, either. Being a Yeoman, you open much of the mail that comes to the Ship. Some of that mail is from the United States Congress asking about a letter or phone call they received from a Sailor or their family.

The only site that has referred more traffic here than U.S. Naval Institute is Information Dissemination, a site that lambasted my efforts to communicate my frustration as a taxpayer.

I have become, to some, the Blogging Mommy and to others, the mother of That Sailor, both titles I wear proudly. If my blog helped my son become THAT SAILOR who helped unlock the doors to working heads for the sailors on the USS George HW Bush, I think I deserve a Bravo Zulu for my blog.

The fact that my son is on this ship is not the point, but taxpayers may not have known of the locked heads otherwise. He had gone through the chain of command, as had many others on board the ship. He never asked me to create the blog - it was not his idea. I thought my blog was an effective way for me to vent personally. I had no idea the government and military would actually be the ones to bring it to the attention of the press on my behalf - in a very roundabout way.

Many media outlets discover what gets the attention of the military and the government. Apparently my blog sparked such interest. The press picked this story up and ran with it, which helped to achieve the desired effect and ciphers were reset to a common decode so all hands had access to working heads.

Our enlisted men and women deserve to have someone speak out for them – especially about their basic human rights. I just want to be sure the system is not only running properly, but that there are backups in place for the next long term deployment.

Someone commenting on this story on another site suggested sending the engineers responsible for the system's installation and warranty out on the ship for a week. Feed and give them all they can drink. The idea is that before the week is over, the problem will be resolved.

Could I have done this differently? Absolutely.
Could I have done this more effectively? Possibly.
Would I do it again for other military personnel? Definitely!

Port, Oh! Let's Just fix this Thing!

For the past week, I have spent much of my spare time advocating for sailors on the USS George H. W. Bush. I've tried to remain detached, unemotional. It's not been easy.

My  mother, who has eight children, once told me, "A mother is only as happy as her least happy child," and although I only have two sons, I have come to realize the truth in her statement. When either of my sons suffers, I do as well.

When my sailor first told me about the situation with the heads on board his floating home, he suggested I visit The official website for "the Bush" and I'll admit, I didn't go check out the VCHT system right away.

My son is an adult. He chose the Navy for his life many years ago and I knew then, as I know now, I can't fix all his problems any more. Gone are the days when my touch can heal a "boo boo." I thought,  It's just a toilet. They'll fix it. It's the Navy, after all. They can fix anything on their ship. I had no idea how extensive the problem ran. I thought it was just one or two heads that were out of order, not the entire system. Still, I thought, he's never been one to complain or over-dramatize a situation. That's never been his style. He tends to suffer in silence a while, then, when things don't resolve, he follows the chain of command toward results. Typically, he has told me long after the fact, when he'd been in situations where he needed help. He certainly has not sought out my help with anything to do with the Navy - EVER.

My son and I emailed each other and I sent him some boxes - you know, care packages - and he called me once. Just once. We touched base and he mentioned that the heads still weren't flushing. He expressed his frustration at the fact that things had been flushed or shoved into the system that shouldn't have been. I still didn't take the situation very seriously. I only thought about looking into the system. I mean, what can I do about that? It's the Navy. I can't do anything to influence the Navy!

A few more weeks, then months passed and our emails continued to discuss the typical, easy-going things we'd silently agreed were okay to talk about while he's deployed. This isn't his first deployment, so he knows what to expect on the ship. He's been assigned to long distant duty stations for so long that I don't "miss him" as much as I once did when he shipped out.

So, many months later, when I casually asked how things were going and I discovered the heads were still not working properly, and that cipher locks had been installed on the doors to the working heads, my mama bear instincts kicked in. I reacted as if someone had been poking my cub with a stick and I wanted to bite off the stick and the hand that held it. Therefore, I created this blog and updated my website.


I also reached out to the media. A reporter from Navy Times contacted me quickly. That reporter contacted my son and subsequently, he contacted someone in authority on the USS George H W Bush.

Even though this blog is the one I have told everyone about and is the only link I have included in my press releases, my website is the one that has been receiving the most hits. Yesterday morning, I found several comments on this site, despite the need to register to leave one. I was flattered that the commenters, although tainting their words with negativity and name-calling, took the time to register in order to speak their minds. Unfortunately, I was unable to verify the legitimacy of the people or bots behind the comments. I couldn't trace the IP addresses or determine if it was one person or several. So, I deleted them. I didn't create this site for the purpose of debates or for anything other than to give me the chance to voice my angst at the mal-functioning system our sailors have been enduring for months.

My first impulse was to lash out at these detractors and defend myself as well as my son. I decided to let their accusations and opinions lie dormant rather than to react to them immediately. I haven't needed to defend myself or my opinion for many years and my son can fight his own battles. I had done my research and I checked my facts as closely as I could without actually being on the ship.

Still, I was heartened to read two comments on my website that are from other family members of sailors on board the USS George H W Bush, people I have never met before. Their loved ones have complained, too. It's not an isolated or small problem! I was also heartened to read an email from a family member who gave me permission to repost that private email - anonymously.

 I read some negative remarks to your blog and I have no doubt they were written by a senior officer charged with glossing the Bush’s image. Thank you for posting the articles on the non-working toilets aboard the Bush. Everyone is so glad that the truth is finally coming out about this serious problem. My sailor is currently serving on board and like all the others on the Bush is afraid to go public – knowing that complaints about a very high profile ship could cause negative repercussions in their careers. I can’t publically complain – but I hope that you can get your articles out to a wider audience – yes, the tax payers should know what they paid for and most certainly know that our sailors are suffering!  My sailor forwarded the email with your article that was forwarded to him from someone else. But again...repercussions ... everyone is afraid to go public. 

Please, link this to all of your emails or copy and paste the appropriate post that highlights the problem. Send it to media, congressmen, your representatives or whomever you think will be able to help. Knowledge is power.

Yes, I know the people on board the ship are doing all THEY can to fix this problem. I wonder if any of them have considered air lifting a few dozen portable toilets or camping "heads" out to the ship.